Desperate for dog but DH allergic

[Grandadwasthatyou]

My 2 dc ( 14 and 11) have been desperate for a dog for a long time. I have always put them off, citing other commitments which would make the household unsuitable.

However, I now have no excuse, have taken early retirement and am at home all day, available to be there for company, long walks etc.
I would also love a dog but have found out that DH is allergic. ( the strange thing is that when we met I was allergic to dogs and therefore his mum offered to take his dog to live with her until it sadly died).

However the tables have turned, I appear not to be allergic anymore, whereas DH gets sore eyes if he even stops to stroke a dog in the street.

The answer would be to get a non-allergenic breed of dog but I am loath to go to a breeder ( labradoodles etc) and would much rather get a rescue dog. I don't know how easy this is going to be. Have looked through all the local rescue centres ( online) and there are many lurchers, whippets, staffy type dogs, none of which would suit our household for obvious reasons.

Any suggestions please?

Go to local centres as a whole family and let staff advise. Tbh now there are a fare few ‘doodles’ in recue now anyway, so you wouldn’t necessarily have to go to a breeder for the right dog.

Does your husband want a dog now?

Please check if your husband really isn't allergic to labradoodles. A couple of percent of allergic people still are allergic to labradoodles as well. The chance is small but it would be upsetting if you have to send the dog away.

You have to be careful with so-called "hypo-allergenic dogs" most aren't what is advertised - they have to be the very first original litter I believe.

But working for a dog rescue - please don't even try it, we get so many dogs because of allergies.

Try Borrow-My-Doggy the website to take dogs who need company and walks on big family walks where your children can interact with lovely dogs!

There's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. Just because some people don't react to certain dogs it doesn't mean your DH won't.
I am allergic to some breeds but many people are allergic to more than just the hair.
Living with an allergy is miserable. I woke up this morning with a red, itchy, burning and swollen face. I'm allergic to one of our two cats.
If you want a dog decide on a breed. Not a cross breed where you don't know what you will get. Go and get DH to meet as many of that breed as he can and see what happens. Go to shows etc.
if all else fails how about volunteering for the cinnamon trust?

Yes DH is on board too, despite his problem. I know how miserable it feels when you are allergic, I used to be so bad I couldn't even breathe , even if the house was hoovered and dog put in another room before I arrived. How I'm suddenly not allergic anymore is really strange, but that's another thread I guess.

He has said he will take an anti histamine everyday, but I am not happy with that.. would far rather find a breed he wasn't allergic to. We visited friends with Bedlington terriers as they advised us they were a non allergenic breed but even then had to leave the house after 10 minutes.

I am not being a joy killer but there really truly isn't a way round this; people who are allergic to dogs are allergic to dander, an agent that occurs to a varying degrees in ALL dogs and this agent lives in saliva.

You could brush the dog every day and have the planets most spick and span house but it'll only minimise things and not eliminate the problem.

I sound like a right misery about this but my mother refused to give up our cat when I was young meaning every common cold ended up in a hospital visit.

I saw this pattern repeat with my friends parents who had a Labradoodle and took my friends wee boy when she was working nights. He was always ill when she came to get him, sniffly, itchy and wheezy.

In short, if you want a dog, get a dog. But you'd have to get your DH to leave first.

Has he spent time with a poodle?

Search for dogs with no undercoat like poodles, Yorkies or if you like hard work, Chinese crested. They produce less dandruff and are therefore more easy to cope with when there are allergic members of the family.

Labradoodles are not necessarily allergy friendly, unless they have got a poodle coat. I would not even bother.

Avoid everything that is short haired, or that sheds a lot like spaniels.

To be honest, going for a rescue is a lovely thing to do, but if you have allergies, the fairest thing for you and the rescue dog is not to join paths. You don’t want to have to send it back when things become unbearabld allergy wise.

I have a Yorkie-poodle cross from the RSPCA but it was very difficult to find. Small dogs are taken often within the day they are advertised, so when mine was advertised I asked my boss if I could have an early lunch break and headed straight to the RSPCA. 5 minutes after I got there, a couple came in asking for the same dog.

By the way, even with “hypoallergenic” breeds you still have to do a lot of frequent vacuum cleaning, dusting and washing dog beds often to
Prevent dandruff built up and to keep it manageable if your DH is very sensitive

You have to be careful with so-called "hypo-allergenic dogs" most aren't what is advertised - they have to be the very first original litter I believe

No. It’s basic genetics. If a poodle is aa for coat genes, and your labrador/cav/whatever is bb, out of every 4 puppies statistically you would get 1 with aa(poodle) coat, 1 with bb (other parent coat), and two with ab, somewhere in between.

I can never understand why people who are allergic take a dog they are less likely to be allergic to, and cross it, to produce a dog they have more chance of being allergic to. Then somehow think the “doodle” is a better choice than your original poodle.

So o/p, stay away from crosses, doodles etc. You have no idea which coat they inherit, so you have no idea on whether you will be allergic. The reason there are now so many in rescue is people buy believing they won’t be allergic, get them home and realise their mistake.

Have a look at poodles and yorkshire terriers. Yorkies have a hair like coat rather than fur, with no undercoat. There are other breeds too i’m sure.

Go to the breeder, hang around their dogs, and see what happens with the allergy. A good breeder will let you spend time with a puppy before you decide.

There are some yorkies/poodles etc in rescues, but they tend to get snapped up very quickly. If you would consider an older dog- 9 or 10 years old you would stand a better chance. Not to be morbid but at least with an older dog if the allergy does develop it’s not a 15 year commitment.

Get a dog and swap the husband.

Thinking.... good idea. Hopefully the dog wouldn't snore as much!

Apparently huskeys are quite good for low reactions. I don't understand why as they don't follow the usual rules such as no undercoat. However I know my brother and his father are both highly allergic and have spent the ladt 10 years with two of them quite happily without the need for hefty cleaning regimes etc.

I would suggest meeting various breeds and seeing if any tick the box more than another then take it from there.

puppy snores are sooo cute too

Could you have a dog that didn't come in to the house?
My initial reaction as someone who is very allergic to dogs was NO, but that could work, you still get to go with walks and play with it outside but no dog hair in the house.

But on a serious note I really think I will have to put my thinking cap back on again.

There have been some really good points raised here.

I was going to say please don’t get a huskey as a first dog. They are not easy. But;

Could you have a dog that didn't come in to the house?

Huskeys would pretty much fit that description. Especially if you live somewhere you could commute by sled...:)

No that's true, they're not easy dogs. My parents had them as their first and were fine but they did a massive amount of research and knew exactly what to expect and what not to (including speaking to owners, breed rescues, experts etc) They are a breed apart in many ways

I know you want to try and rescue a dog... but if you decide to go down the breeder / puppy route as this might be better for you.
Any decent breeder will let you spend time with their dogs in their home. Go with someone that has only the one breed in their home not kennels. This way you can assess your initial reaction.
Most good breeders sell puppies with a contract & returns clause if you are unable to keep the dog. Make sure you can return the dog if allergies trigger 6- 12month down the line.

Stay away from any oodle x or x poo... as mentioned above.

Try the breed quiz on the KC website, it should have a section for allergy sufferers.

Dh is allergic to all animals, except yorkies.

Any chance of your dh seeing an allergy specialist? There's allergy shots for dog allergy.

Also, my dd is allergic to dogs but much better with Maltese and Westies than any other breed.

I hate to be the voice of doom and gloom but my cat nearly killed me. I was like you, highly allergic, then after a few weeks the allergy went away. Happy days. It then came back with a vengence around 5 years later with allergy-induced asthma, which was very scary indeed. I wouldn't actually risk it for either of you.

One thing about Choosing a purebred puppy... I have had Yorkies for 20 years but when looking for my last one but couldn’t find many that fitted the standard as m
Armed by the kennel club. I was not going to show it so this shouldn’t have been a concern but, I was very concerned that the puppy had some designer cross ancestor and therefore the wrong coat. That’s why I got straight to RSPCA as soon as I saw mine advertised. Obviously, the chances of getting the wrong coat in a rescue dog are much higher but at least I had a good chance to have a proper look at her hair and for my son to put his nose in it before committing to travel to several breeders around the country and spend £100s on it. Surprisingly the dog is fine, DS is fine and we are all happy.

BTW. Maltese are also good for allergic people.

I cannot imagine a husky being good for allergies, they have the mother of all undercoats and for some very good reasons!

I think it's going to be a difficult search.
We really wanted a larger size family dog which we could take for long walks in the woods.
Sadly that rules out westies, Maltese etc ( I think anyway but am prepared to be corrected.)

Have definitely decided from a lot of the points raised that the "labradoodle" route will not work anyway due to not being able to guarantee what type of coat a puppy might have.

Dh is going to have to go.